We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our site. By using this site, you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device. For more information about how we use cookies visit our privacy policy at www.actforpeace.org.au/privacy

Thank you for planting the seeds of change

Joyce is a pioneering farmer from
Zimbabwe. Along with many
others in her community, she has
felt the terrible effects of climate
change, drought, rising food
prices and political instability.
Joyce was one of the first people in
her district to learn an innovative
new way of farming called
Conservation Farming. She can now harvest enough crops to feed her family and earn a living, even
when the rains fail. With your support, this strong and independent woman has learned to overcome huge obstacles and
provide a secure supply of food for her family.

Richard Wainwright/Act for Peace

Farmers from Joyce’s district have been working their land for generations. They’re rightly proud of their knowledge of rainfall patterns and cycles of planting and harvesting. But in the last few years, everything has changed. Climate change has wreaked havoc on the weather, making it harder for farmers like Joyce to plant crops at the right time and to have enough water for them to grow properly.

When the rains fail in the district, the consequences for farming families are disastrous. They rely on the crops they grow to feed their families and they need to sell their surplus at market to pay for necessities like school books, or medicine when someone in their family falls sick.

Devastating food shortages and extreme hunger are what follow most failed crop harvests. Without enough food to get them to the next harvest, desperate farmers are forced to sell their precious cows and goats for low prices. Some even resort to borrowing from unscrupulous moneylenders, leaving the family struggling with debt for years to come. Children have to give up going to school, instead walking miles each day in the baking sun to search for tufts of grass for their starving animals.

Joyce remembers the bad times only too well. “When we were farming the usual way, we’d plant our seeds and they wouldn’t do well. We had to repeat the process over and over, and still they wouldn’t germinate. We used to overwork our livestock as well. There wasn’t enough food for the cattle but we still had to use them to plough.”

Thanks to supporters like you, our local partner Christian Care has taught Joyce a new way of growing crops, much better suited to the cycle of drought and low rainfall that Zimbabwe is now experiencing. These techniques, called Conservation Farming are simple but revolutionary. By digging individual pits for each corn plant, for example, Joyce can make the most of the little rain that falls. She’s also learned how to cover the ground with mulch made from old stalks of corn to keep the water from evaporating.

These days, Joyce is proud of how self-sufficient she is, and how much she’s achieved through her own hard work and use of the new techniques she’s been taught. Thanks to your gifts, the yields she gets from her fields have gone up, and she can now send her children to school. She’s even able to sell some extra crops and put money aside for the future. “Before, I never managed to buy anything. But now with Conservation Farming I have managed to buy a security fence for my plot” she says. “I feel like a well-established farmer” says Joyce, beaming. “Thank you to the people in Australia for helping teach us this method of farming. Since it’s come to our area, it’s reduced poverty and suffering.”

Thank you so much for your support!

Thanks to the amazing response to our Zimbabwe appeal, Act for Peace supporters like you have raised more than
$94,000 to train farmers in the new farming techniques.

Your gifts are changing the lives of farmers in their very first year of Conservation Farming, helping them double the average amount of crops they grow, ensuring their families have enough to eat until the next season, and in most cases, giving them excess produce to sell.

Your privacy is important to us. Act for Peace collects your personal information in order to keep you informed about our projects, activities and opportunities to take action. By providing your information you are agreeing that Act for Peace may use it to contact you in the future. You can opt out of future communications, or contact us with any queries, by emailing info@actforpeace.org.au, calling 1800 025 101 or writing to Act for Peace, Locked Bag Q199, QVB NSW 1230. To reduce overheads we may provide your information to trusted suppliers who provide services on our behalf (including mail, data, phone, IT, processing and research). Our privacy policy www.actforpeace.org.au/privacy contains information about: (i) how we collect, store and use, plus how you can access and correct your personal information; (ii) how you can lodge a complaint regarding the handling of your information; and (iii) how any complaint will be handled by Act for Peace.

Act for Peace is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct and Fundraising Charter, which commits international aid and development organisations to good standards of governance, transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

Act for Peace is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global network of grass-roots aid organisations working together in over 140 countries. Together we mobilise about $1.5 billion each year to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards.

The Church Agencies Network (CAN) is a group of eleven Australian church-based aid and development agencies. The network is an opportunity to work together and to share experiences and practice, recognising that together we can achieve much more.

Act for Peace gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government.